It probably doesn’t require a great deal of imagination to realize that the Sunday after Easter
presents some unique challenges for a preacher. In fact, I suspect the same holds true for all who
attend church on the Second Sunday of Easter. After the emotional zenith of proclaiming the
Resurrection following weeks of Lenten austerity, the thought might occur to us, maybe
subconsciously, “Wow, how can we top that?” There may even be a little letdown.
I think this may account for the well-known fact that church attendance tends to lag on the Sunday
after Easter. In fact, it’s come to be known as “low Sunday.”
I think many of us involved in the Holy Week services are probably feeling a little understandable
fatigue. It’s like the old Mad Magazine feature “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions” in which the
nurse comes in and asks, “And how are we today?” And of course the snappy response is, “Well,
judging by the way you look and the way I feel, I’d say we’re both in trouble.”
A fond fantasy of mine is that if we truly were a nation that passionately believed in Jesus and his
resurrection, there would be a lengthier afterglow from Easter. You know, kind of like those Middle
Eastern wedding feasts that go on for many days. I have to think that part of the reason that this isn’
t the case is that much of Western culture has become pretty indifferent toward Jesus.
This past week I read an article in the Daily Mail, which is one of the UK’s widely read newspapers.
The writer of the article is the British novelist and journalist A. N. Wilson, the title is, “Religion of
hatred: Why we should no longer be cowed by the chattering classes ruling Britain who sneer at
Christianity.” It basically decries the bad press given Christianity in the UK. In the article he
describes the Palm Sunday procession at his local parish in North London, and then talks about his
own faith journey. Here’s a bit of his description: “For much of my life, I, too, have been one of those
who did not believe. It was in my young manhood that I began to wonder how much of the Easter
story I accepted, and in my 30s I lost any religious belief whatsoever.” He goes on to describe his
anger at feeling “conned” by the story of the Resurrection. He even went on to write a book
portraying Jesus as a failed prophet who had simply died. When he finally was honest enough to
ask himself why he had become so dismissive of Christianity, he had to admit that it was mostly
because of the overwhelmingly secular and anti-religious bias in academia and the media.
Then, somewhere along the line Wilson began going to church. He didn’t particularly believe, but
felt that somehow he was on some kind of spiritual quest, so it seemed vaguely appropriate.
Eventually, to his complete surprise, he found that he had changed. Here again are his own words:
“When I took part in the procession last Sunday and heard the Gospel being chanted, I assented to
it with complete simplicity.” And he goes on to say: “My belief has come about in large measure
because of the lives and examples of people I have known—not the famous, not saints, but friends
and relations who have lived, and faced death, in the light of the Resurrection story, in the quiet
acceptance that they have a future after they die.”
In today’s Gospel reading from John, Thomas refuses to invest his belief in the Resurrection until he
gets irrefutable evidence from his senses. Jesus kindly obliges, but then says, “Have you believed
because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
I think these words are for A. N. Wilson, and all of us who believe now, in the year 2009. You see,
the widely patronized St. Thomas really represents that Missouri mule part of all of us that wants
proof so we won’t end up looking like fools.
In Jesus’ time, just like our own, most people accepted that when you died, you pretty much stayed
dead. Thomas wanted to make sure that Jesus really was alive again. But Jesus reserves a special
blessing to those who invest their faith without such proof.
And I think it’s significant that the evidence that persuaded Mr. Wilson is the difference he observed
in Christian friends and relatives. It’s this phenomenon that I think especially invites our attention
this morning, because it all has to do with the question, “What now?” What does the Resurrection
really mean, and what do we do now, after celebrating once again the events of Easter? I think St.
John addresses eloquently the meaning of the Resurrection in the portion of his first letter we heard
a little while ago. He begins the letter by writing, “We declare to you what was from the beginning,
what we’ve heard, what we’ve seen with our own eyes, what we’ve looked at and touched with our
hands, concerning the word of life—this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and
declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—we declare to you
what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship
is with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.”
Besides being an enviable entry in his competition with St. Paul for having the longest run-on
sentence in Scripture, I find this to be a terrific summation of who Jesus is and what he’s done. But
then John goes on to spell out the basic spiritual problem of humankind—sin. He says that if we say
we don’t have sin, we’re lying to ourselves. It’s universal. It’s something we all share by virtue of
being human beings. No one has been able to duplicate Jesus’ feat of living a sinless life.
And here’s the key. There’s a two-pronged blessing we all share because of the Cross and the
Resurrection. First, we’re forgiven. John says, “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will
forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We don’t have to work our sins off,
or go through many incarnations to finally get things right; our sin debt has been fully paid at the
Cross. And lest we let this bubble up to our heads like carbonation from cheap champagne and
inspire us to begin plotting how we can do our favorite sins and then ask for forgiveness and try to
play both sides, John adds a little something to this. He says, “I am writing these things so that you
may not sin.” John is simply saying here that grace is free, but isn’t cheap. Paul said something
similar: “What should we say then, should we sin all the more so that grace may abound? By no
means!” The idea is that we’re to seek to live a life of greater goodness using the power of the Holy
Spirit who now indwells us.
And the second prong of John’s blessing recognizes our fallibility. He says, “But if anyone does sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for
our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.” It’s no accident that this passage
is used in our Rite 1 liturgy after the absolution, and is referred to as “Words of Comfort.”
What do the Cross and the Resurrection mean to us? They mean simply that the biggest problem
facing the spiritual lives and eternal dispositions of human beings has been solved by Christ and his
work, and we receive it freely by faith. Can you think of a much better deal than that? I can’t. So
now what are we to do? We’ve joyfully celebrated Easter, we’ve received reassurance of our
forgiveness and of eternal life, what now? It’s kind of like the Disney World commercials they used
to run after the Super Bowl. “Joe Montana, you’ve just won the Super Bowl! What are you going to
do next?” (I guess that kind of dates me.)
Well, our Acts reading, our John epistle and our Psalm point toward something even better than
Disney World. It has to do with what it means to be in community. Christian community.
John says, “If we walk in the light as Jesus himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another…” The Psalmist says, “Oh, how good and pleasant it is, when brethren live together in
unity! It is like fine oil upon the head that runs down upon the beard.” He says, “It is like the dew of
Hermon that falls upon the hills of Zion. For there the Lord has ordained the blessing; life for
evermore.” And the great physician/historian Luke writes of a brief, golden moment in history when
believers “were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions,
but all was held in common.” He says there were no needy people among them, because people
were even selling off their property and goods to make sure everyone was provided for.
These are all pictures that give us a hint as to how we may respond to the immeasurable gift of God’
s grace. Living together in the true faith, in love, and in unity. We take care of each other as
brothers and sisters. There’s an old Navajo saying that stands as one of the most piercing criticisms
one Navajo can say to another. “You act like you have no family.” What this means is, you’re being
self-centered and not watching out for the well-being of those closest to you. May it never be said
truthfully of any of us as Christians, are as Hopesters, “You act like you have no family.”
And of course our love and care goes far beyond our own church family. Jesus modeled this to us
throughout his ministry. He said that if you don’t feed the hungry, clothe the naked and visit the
prisoner, it’s just as if you failed to do these things for Jesus himself. And just like with his disciples,
he commissions us to go out and heal the sick and spread the gospel. These things are our duty
and our privilege. So do we do them to earn divine brownie points? No, all that we ever need has
been given to us for the price of faith in Jesus. Instead it’s the gratitude for this truth that motivates
us to seek God’s power to love our neighbor.
Martin Luther once said this: “When you know that you have through Christ, a good and gracious
God who will forgive your sins and remember them no more, and are now a child of eternal
blessedness, a lord over heaven and earth with Christ, then you have nothing more to do than to go
about your business and serve your neighbor.” I think this puts it all in perspective. Christ is risen!
We’ve just won the Super Bowl. Our hope is secure! What are we going to do now? Well, instead of
heading for Disney World we’re all heading for a new heavens and new world.
You see, we’re preparing now for the new earth that will be finished when Jesus returns. Bishop
Tom Wright uses the image of the simple eleventh-century stonemason, working away on one or two
blocks of stone according to the orders given to him. He isn't building the Cathedral; he’s building
FOR the Cathedral. When the master mason/architect gathers up all the small pieces of stone at
which people have been working away, he’ll put them into the great edifice which he's had in mind all
along and which he alone can build -- but FOR WHICH we can and must build in the present time.
My prayer is that we’ll long continue the beautiful work of being family here at Hope, and invest
ourselves and our resources in building up God’s work here, one stone at a time—a work that will
become an increasingly powerful force reaching out to others and for building God’s kingdom here
as we wait that day in which the transformation becomes complete at Jesus’ return. And as we care
for each other, love our neighbors and live in the peace that comes from blessed assurance, may
we draw many more A. N. Wilsons to our blessed family, the church. Amen.
presents some unique challenges for a preacher. In fact, I suspect the same holds true for all who
attend church on the Second Sunday of Easter. After the emotional zenith of proclaiming the
Resurrection following weeks of Lenten austerity, the thought might occur to us, maybe
subconsciously, “Wow, how can we top that?” There may even be a little letdown.
I think this may account for the well-known fact that church attendance tends to lag on the Sunday
after Easter. In fact, it’s come to be known as “low Sunday.”
I think many of us involved in the Holy Week services are probably feeling a little understandable
fatigue. It’s like the old Mad Magazine feature “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions” in which the
nurse comes in and asks, “And how are we today?” And of course the snappy response is, “Well,
judging by the way you look and the way I feel, I’d say we’re both in trouble.”
A fond fantasy of mine is that if we truly were a nation that passionately believed in Jesus and his
resurrection, there would be a lengthier afterglow from Easter. You know, kind of like those Middle
Eastern wedding feasts that go on for many days. I have to think that part of the reason that this isn’
t the case is that much of Western culture has become pretty indifferent toward Jesus.
This past week I read an article in the Daily Mail, which is one of the UK’s widely read newspapers.
The writer of the article is the British novelist and journalist A. N. Wilson, the title is, “Religion of
hatred: Why we should no longer be cowed by the chattering classes ruling Britain who sneer at
Christianity.” It basically decries the bad press given Christianity in the UK. In the article he
describes the Palm Sunday procession at his local parish in North London, and then talks about his
own faith journey. Here’s a bit of his description: “For much of my life, I, too, have been one of those
who did not believe. It was in my young manhood that I began to wonder how much of the Easter
story I accepted, and in my 30s I lost any religious belief whatsoever.” He goes on to describe his
anger at feeling “conned” by the story of the Resurrection. He even went on to write a book
portraying Jesus as a failed prophet who had simply died. When he finally was honest enough to
ask himself why he had become so dismissive of Christianity, he had to admit that it was mostly
because of the overwhelmingly secular and anti-religious bias in academia and the media.
Then, somewhere along the line Wilson began going to church. He didn’t particularly believe, but
felt that somehow he was on some kind of spiritual quest, so it seemed vaguely appropriate.
Eventually, to his complete surprise, he found that he had changed. Here again are his own words:
“When I took part in the procession last Sunday and heard the Gospel being chanted, I assented to
it with complete simplicity.” And he goes on to say: “My belief has come about in large measure
because of the lives and examples of people I have known—not the famous, not saints, but friends
and relations who have lived, and faced death, in the light of the Resurrection story, in the quiet
acceptance that they have a future after they die.”
In today’s Gospel reading from John, Thomas refuses to invest his belief in the Resurrection until he
gets irrefutable evidence from his senses. Jesus kindly obliges, but then says, “Have you believed
because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
I think these words are for A. N. Wilson, and all of us who believe now, in the year 2009. You see,
the widely patronized St. Thomas really represents that Missouri mule part of all of us that wants
proof so we won’t end up looking like fools.
In Jesus’ time, just like our own, most people accepted that when you died, you pretty much stayed
dead. Thomas wanted to make sure that Jesus really was alive again. But Jesus reserves a special
blessing to those who invest their faith without such proof.
And I think it’s significant that the evidence that persuaded Mr. Wilson is the difference he observed
in Christian friends and relatives. It’s this phenomenon that I think especially invites our attention
this morning, because it all has to do with the question, “What now?” What does the Resurrection
really mean, and what do we do now, after celebrating once again the events of Easter? I think St.
John addresses eloquently the meaning of the Resurrection in the portion of his first letter we heard
a little while ago. He begins the letter by writing, “We declare to you what was from the beginning,
what we’ve heard, what we’ve seen with our own eyes, what we’ve looked at and touched with our
hands, concerning the word of life—this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and
declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—we declare to you
what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship
is with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.”
Besides being an enviable entry in his competition with St. Paul for having the longest run-on
sentence in Scripture, I find this to be a terrific summation of who Jesus is and what he’s done. But
then John goes on to spell out the basic spiritual problem of humankind—sin. He says that if we say
we don’t have sin, we’re lying to ourselves. It’s universal. It’s something we all share by virtue of
being human beings. No one has been able to duplicate Jesus’ feat of living a sinless life.
And here’s the key. There’s a two-pronged blessing we all share because of the Cross and the
Resurrection. First, we’re forgiven. John says, “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will
forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We don’t have to work our sins off,
or go through many incarnations to finally get things right; our sin debt has been fully paid at the
Cross. And lest we let this bubble up to our heads like carbonation from cheap champagne and
inspire us to begin plotting how we can do our favorite sins and then ask for forgiveness and try to
play both sides, John adds a little something to this. He says, “I am writing these things so that you
may not sin.” John is simply saying here that grace is free, but isn’t cheap. Paul said something
similar: “What should we say then, should we sin all the more so that grace may abound? By no
means!” The idea is that we’re to seek to live a life of greater goodness using the power of the Holy
Spirit who now indwells us.
And the second prong of John’s blessing recognizes our fallibility. He says, “But if anyone does sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for
our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.” It’s no accident that this passage
is used in our Rite 1 liturgy after the absolution, and is referred to as “Words of Comfort.”
What do the Cross and the Resurrection mean to us? They mean simply that the biggest problem
facing the spiritual lives and eternal dispositions of human beings has been solved by Christ and his
work, and we receive it freely by faith. Can you think of a much better deal than that? I can’t. So
now what are we to do? We’ve joyfully celebrated Easter, we’ve received reassurance of our
forgiveness and of eternal life, what now? It’s kind of like the Disney World commercials they used
to run after the Super Bowl. “Joe Montana, you’ve just won the Super Bowl! What are you going to
do next?” (I guess that kind of dates me.)
Well, our Acts reading, our John epistle and our Psalm point toward something even better than
Disney World. It has to do with what it means to be in community. Christian community.
John says, “If we walk in the light as Jesus himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another…” The Psalmist says, “Oh, how good and pleasant it is, when brethren live together in
unity! It is like fine oil upon the head that runs down upon the beard.” He says, “It is like the dew of
Hermon that falls upon the hills of Zion. For there the Lord has ordained the blessing; life for
evermore.” And the great physician/historian Luke writes of a brief, golden moment in history when
believers “were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions,
but all was held in common.” He says there were no needy people among them, because people
were even selling off their property and goods to make sure everyone was provided for.
These are all pictures that give us a hint as to how we may respond to the immeasurable gift of God’
s grace. Living together in the true faith, in love, and in unity. We take care of each other as
brothers and sisters. There’s an old Navajo saying that stands as one of the most piercing criticisms
one Navajo can say to another. “You act like you have no family.” What this means is, you’re being
self-centered and not watching out for the well-being of those closest to you. May it never be said
truthfully of any of us as Christians, are as Hopesters, “You act like you have no family.”
And of course our love and care goes far beyond our own church family. Jesus modeled this to us
throughout his ministry. He said that if you don’t feed the hungry, clothe the naked and visit the
prisoner, it’s just as if you failed to do these things for Jesus himself. And just like with his disciples,
he commissions us to go out and heal the sick and spread the gospel. These things are our duty
and our privilege. So do we do them to earn divine brownie points? No, all that we ever need has
been given to us for the price of faith in Jesus. Instead it’s the gratitude for this truth that motivates
us to seek God’s power to love our neighbor.
Martin Luther once said this: “When you know that you have through Christ, a good and gracious
God who will forgive your sins and remember them no more, and are now a child of eternal
blessedness, a lord over heaven and earth with Christ, then you have nothing more to do than to go
about your business and serve your neighbor.” I think this puts it all in perspective. Christ is risen!
We’ve just won the Super Bowl. Our hope is secure! What are we going to do now? Well, instead of
heading for Disney World we’re all heading for a new heavens and new world.
You see, we’re preparing now for the new earth that will be finished when Jesus returns. Bishop
Tom Wright uses the image of the simple eleventh-century stonemason, working away on one or two
blocks of stone according to the orders given to him. He isn't building the Cathedral; he’s building
FOR the Cathedral. When the master mason/architect gathers up all the small pieces of stone at
which people have been working away, he’ll put them into the great edifice which he's had in mind all
along and which he alone can build -- but FOR WHICH we can and must build in the present time.
My prayer is that we’ll long continue the beautiful work of being family here at Hope, and invest
ourselves and our resources in building up God’s work here, one stone at a time—a work that will
become an increasingly powerful force reaching out to others and for building God’s kingdom here
as we wait that day in which the transformation becomes complete at Jesus’ return. And as we care
for each other, love our neighbors and live in the peace that comes from blessed assurance, may
we draw many more A. N. Wilsons to our blessed family, the church. Amen.
Now What?
Second Sunday of Easter, 2009
Second Sunday of Easter, 2009
April 19, 2009
Fr. Dan Tuton
Fr. Dan Tuton
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